Kiev 4A: refurbished or original?

[lubitel]

The kievcamera.com offers Kiev 4A "refurbished in 2004" for 80 dollars with j8,

do you think its worth buying it refurbished, or should I rather get a cheaper version from ebay? Any thoughts on this? Has anyone bought a refurbished one?

thanks.

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

You might do better with DVD Technic (I think that is the name). Others here have reported good experiences with them.

I have a vague recollection of others having problems with responses from kievcamera.com. I was interested in buying a "refurbished" black Kiev 4a and had emailed questions to the address provided at the site. I never recieved a response.

 

[jdos2]

With my luck...

I won't buy one except from a repair person (like Oleg).

I've had 4 from Michael Fourman (kievcamera.com) and ALL of 'em went back broken, usually within SECONDS of removing them from the box. He still owes me one, come to think of it. I bought his "black Kiev" special, thinking that it'd be better- the first one had probably been open- the shutter blinded 1/2 the frame at high speeds (different tape length, probably) and the next one broke directly. The next two weren't even black, but I'm guessing "e-Bay specials" and broke directly...

One gets what they pay for. I'd pay $40-$60 for a Kiev knowing I'm going to have to send it off to Henry.

Or I'd get one from Oleg for more, knowing it won't be "perfectly perfect" until it goes to Henry (the one from Oleg fires the flash late, the top of the frame doesn't get exposed- 1mm on the negative)

Good luck. I've now two working Kievs, out of a dozen that have been through my hands...

🙂

 

[kiev4a]

Sounds like my lucked with Red Zorki 5s

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

One gets what they pay for. I'd pay $40-$60 for a Kiev knowing I'm going to have to send it off to Henry.

Who is Henry? I am interested in a 4a as well. And does Henry repair any other camera brands?

 

[wlewisiii]

Henry Scherer http://www.zeisscamera.com/First.html is the top repairer of Contax cameras out there. Expensive but good. He used to do Kievs (charging the same rate as for Contax II/III) but it is my understanding that he has stopped doing Kievs.

William

 

[jdos2]

Henry (http://www.zeisscamera.com) is a Contax repair-dude that is known to do a good job fixing Contaxes and Kievs.

He's... Well, go to the site- you'll see. He LOVES 'em.

JD

 

[jdos2]

ACK!
I just read Henry's site, and indeed, he doesn't work on Kievs. That leaves Oleg, who already spent some "time away from camera repair" once, throwing a shock waves through the community of those that know him...

Feh.

Ah, well, I'm glad I still have that color-dial IIIa. Sigh. Too bad the J-12s won't fit.

 

[captainslack]

I didn't think Oleg worked on Kiev's. At least not one's from Arsenal.

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

Hey that's a snappy avatar! 😉

 

[ruben]

Hi lubitel,

My only reservation is concerned with the 4A model per se. Among my 5 kievs, one of them is 4A, bought from DVD, and works extremely well. But compared to the my other older Kievs, the 4A may be a "younger" one, but extremely coarse and plainly ugly. The winding/cocking knob is smooth, but its external teeth is too coarse for human fngers.

True, the fixed film taking magazine, the circular eyelet and the rewind handle are relative improvements for speedier handling, but from my own feeling they are no rock crushing advances basically changing the Kiev status as a take-your-time camera.

In my opinion, for 80 or 100 bucks, you can have a better Kiev specimen from the sixties.

Cheers,
Ruben

 

[JoeFriday]

I think the Kievs from the 60s are the best, also.. I've got 2 identical Kiev 4a's.. both are in excellent cosmetic shape.. one is mechanically sound, but needs some adjusting.. and the other is about as good as I've ever seen, both cosmetically and in function.. I paid roughly $45 (both with Jupiter-8M lenses) for each of them.. chances are, I was pretty lucky, tho

the later years saw much more hit and miss quality control.. but whenever I look at buying any FSU gear, I know it's a 50/50 chance that it'll work properly right away

 

[reagan]

Oleg has several Kiev 4s on his new arrival list. I can highly recommend him. You'll get your money's worth. I seriously doubt if a refurb from anywhere would be any better than a camera from the big O.

I'm glad some of you have had good experiences with DVD Technic, but I can't brag about 'em. I've only bought one item, a lens, from them. They were slow to communicate with me - it took several emails just to get them to aknowledge that I had paid for something - and slow to ship - a week+ after payment, then of course the 17-21 day trek across the waters. The lens arrived needing immediate clean and lube, not what I expected for the money paid; very disappointing.

 

[captainslack]

Hey that's a snappy avatar! 😉

I thought you'd like it. 😀

 

[lubitel]

Thanks for your replies. I am kind of new here. Everyone seems to know Oleg. Where do I find him in the www out there?

 

[varjag]

My only reservation is concerned with the 4A model per se. Among my 5 kievs, one of them is 4A, bought from DVD, and works extremely well. But compared to the my other older Kievs, the 4A may be a "younger" one, but extremely coarse and plainly ugly. The winding/cocking knob is smooth, but its external teeth is too coarse for human fngers.

True, the fixed film taking magazine, the circular eyelet and the rewind handle are relative improvements for speedier handling, but from my own feeling they are no rock crushing advances basically changing the Kiev status as a take-your-time camera.

Ruben, the way you describe it sounds more like Kiev-4AM. A an AM models are not identical, the M ("modified") series is the last step of Kiev RF line; they do have rewind lever and fixed take up spool.

In fact I find plain 4A (fit & finish issues aside) to be slicker in shape than the II model, lacking the bottom support arm and with back openers recessed.

 

[Iskra 2]

Thanks for your replies. I am kind of new here. Everyone seems to know Oleg. Where do I find him in the www out there?

Hi Lubitel,

http://www.okvintagecamera.com/address.htm will get you there. He CLA'd an Iskra 2 for me. It may take awhile. He is busy. 🙂

 

[ruben]

Ruben, the way you describe it sounds more like Kiev-4AM. A an AM models are not identical, the M ("modified") series is the last step of Kiev RF line; they do have rewind lever and fixed take up spool.

In fact I find plain 4A (fit & finish issues aside) to be slicker in shape than the II model, lacking the bottom support arm and with back openers recessed.

What a mess with Kiev terminology !: http://www.kievcamera.com/product.php?ID=62

Cheers,

Ruben

 

[varjag]

What a mess with Kiev terminology !: http://www.kievcamera.com/product.php?ID=62

Not really, if you use official Arsenal plant model designations: there isn't much controversy in them.

The second-hand equipment dealers can have varying understanding of the model line, but thats entirely their problem.

 

[Mike Kovacs]

Oleg was actually ill (cancer?) so I think he had a reasonable excuse for taking the break.

Its him or a few select others in the absence of Henry Scherer, which I doubt I would shell-out $325 for a Kiev when prewar Contaxes cost $100-200 for decent ones needing some work. That or you visit Russ' Kiev Survival Site, invest in some basic tools, and get to work!